A recent Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study has claimed that daily meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and other causes. An Pan, et al., “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality,” Archives of Internal Medicine, March 2012. Relying on data from 37,698 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and 83,644 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers assessed participant diets using questionnaires administered every four years. The results reportedly suggested that consuming one three-ounce serving of unprocessed red meat each day “was associated with a 13% increased risk of mortality,” while one daily serving of processed red meat such as bacon, sausage or salami “was associated with a 20% increased risk.” According to a March 12, 2012, HSPH press release, the findings accounted for “chronic disease risk factors such as age, body mass index, physical activity, family history of heart…
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Polish officials have reportedly withdrawn from commerce more than 500,000 pounds of food possibly contaminated with industrial salt intended for de-icing roads in winter conditions. According to media sources, Poland’s Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested five individuals accused of selling road salt to food processors for use in dairy, fish, meat, and baked goods. The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) has since identified the non-iodized salt, which contains “minimal” levels of dioxin and heavy metals, at 48 different locations, but has reportedly emphasized the overall low risk to human health. “It can be concluded with a very high probability that the amounts of these compounds per 100 g of the food products do not pose a health hazard,” one GIS investigator was quoted as saying. See Polskie Radio, February 27 and March 7, 2012; Warsaw Business Journal, March 5, 2012; EurActiv.com, March 7, 2012. Despite this finding and the precautionary…
Researchers presenting at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2012 Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., have announced two new ways to produce synthetic meat, significantly upping the ante in what AAAS describes as a potentially lucrative industry. The first approach pioneered by Stanford University biochemist Patrick Brown reportedly uses plant material to create meat substitutes and may also serve as dairy products. Noting that grazing requires extensive land and energy use, Brown explained to AAAS attendees that “yields from the world’s four major food plant crops—corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans—already provide more than enough protein and amino acids for the world population.” Meanwhile, a Dutch team led by Maastricht University Professor Mark Post has taken a different tack, “gradually transforming” cow stem cells “into tissues that resemble the skeletal muscle that makes up steak or hamburger.” The scientists apparently aim to produce the first lab-grown hamburger by…
A recent study has reportedly suggested a link between red and cooked meat consumption and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Carrie Daniel, et al., “Large prospective investigation of meat intake, related mutagens, and risk of renal cell carcinoma,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2011. Researchers apparently monitored approximately 492,000 participants over nine years using a “detailed dietary assessment linked to a database of heme iron, heterocyclic amines (HCA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitrate, and nitrite concentrations in cooked and processed meats.” According to the study abstract, the results revealed that participants who consumed approximately 2.2 ounces of cooked red or processed meat per 1,000 calories were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with RCC than those consuming less than 0.3 ounces per 1,000 calories. “Red meat intake may increase the risk of RCC through mechanisms related to the cooking compounds BaP and PhIP,” speculated the study’s authors, who…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule to “expand the circumstances under which FSIS will generically approve the labels of meat and poultry products.” Under the proposal, which would also combine regulations into a new CFR part, FSIS would reportedly allow establishments “to label a broader range of products without first submitting the label to FSIS for approval.” As the agency explained in a December 5, 2011, press release, “all mandatory label features would still need to comply with FSIS regulations.” In particular, FSIS noted that the current generic label regulations are too restrictive in practice, compelling the agency to pre-approve “a significant amount of labeling” instead of dedicating resources to other consumer protection and food safety activities. “For example, the label for a nonstandardized product, such as pepperoni pizza (bearing no special statements or claims) that was sketch approved…
Following oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on the validity of a California law that prohibits slaughterhouses from receiving, processing or selling nonambulatory animals, court watchers are predicting that the law will not survive the National Meat Association’s preemption challenge. Nat’l Meat Ass’n v. Harris, No. 10-224 (U.S., argued November 9, 2011). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, finding that the states may regulate “what kinds of animals may be slaughtered,” despite express preemption language in the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Additional information about the Ninth Circuit’s ruling appears in Issue 344 of this Update. According to news sources, the justices did not appear to accept the fine distinction adopted by the lower court. Under the federal law, federal inspectors are authorized to decide what to do with animals that cannot walk when they reach the slaughterhouse; in some cases, they determine that animals may be…
Sholom Rubashkin, who managed a kosher meatpacking facility in Postville, Iowa, and was convicted on 86 counts related to financial fraud, lost the appeal of his conviction and the 324-month prison sentence imposed by a federal district court. United States v. Rubashkin, Nos. 10-2487/3580 (8th Cir., decided September 16, 2011). Additional details about the case appear in Issue 378 of this Update. Among other matters, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that evidence indicating that the trial court judge met with prosecutors before the facility was raided by immigration officials was insufficient to show bias against Rubashkin or that “the district court’s decision to remain on the case prejudiced Rubashkin’s verdict.” The court also found no fault in the trial court severing the bank fraud charges from the immigration law violations, which the government later dismissed, and trying the bank fraud charges first. According to the appeals court, “Given…
A coalition of meat, poultry and egg industry interests recently submitted a letter to the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the “Super Committee,” urging it to reject a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) fiscal year 2012 budget that would impose “user fees” on industry for government-mandated food safety inspection programs. Claiming that the inspection programs have been funded by taxpayers for more than a century, the trade associations contend that “user fees” would affect the price of meat, effectively imposing a regressive tax on low- and middle-income families who “spend a higher portion of their income on food than do wealthier Americans.” The letter does not indicate how government food safety inspections can be maintained if the Super Committee, tasked with making significant reductions in the U.S. deficit, slashes USDA’s budget. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate and Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R) reportedly called for…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced its intention to prohibit six serogroups of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in addition to E. coli O157:H7. According to FSIS, the agency plans to begin testing for the additional STEC on March 5, 2012, at which time those six strains will be deemed adulterants and barred from commerce under the Federal Meat Inspection Act if detected in raw ground beef, its components or tenderized steak. “As a result of today’s action, if the E. coli serogroups O26, O103, O45, O111, O121 and O145 are found in raw ground beef or its precursors, those products will be prohibited from entering commerce,” stated a September 13, 2011, USDA press release, which also solicits comments on the policy change for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a September 2011 report claiming that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have failed to obtain credible data on the use of antibiotics in food animals, as well as the presence of resistant bacteria in animals and retail meat. After examining the extent to which U.S. agencies have addressed this area of concern, GAO apparently found major gaps in the information needed to understand how livestock antibiotics can contribute “to the emergence of resistant bacteria that may affect humans.” In particular, the report faulted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to adequately monitor a 2010 voluntary strategy designed to limit “approved uses of antibiotics” and increase “veterinary supervision of use.” According to GAO, “FDA does not collect the antibiotic use data, including the purpose of use, needed to measure the strategy’s effectiveness.”…
